Middlesbrough Community Pub Reopened Following Transformational Makeover
- Guild Secretary
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Saltersgill, located in Middlesbrough, officially reopened on Thursday 21st May following a transformational investment of more than £360,000. The pub is part of Proper Pubs, the award-winning community wet-led operator division of Admiral Taverns, which operates more than 200 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales.
Inside, the pub has been completely transformed to include brand new flooring, fixtures and fittings throughout, as well as eight flat screen televisions fitted with Sky and TNT Sports. In addition, the pub has been revamped to include two new dart boards and pool table in the games area for customers to enjoy.
Outside, The Saltersgill offers brand-new lighting and signage to greet customers as well as a refurbished garden seating around 80 people.
It offers a wide range of drinks promotions, including Wine Wednesday, where customers can get £2 off a bottle, Fizz Friday, offering customers a bottle of fizz for £10, along with cocktails, bottle and shot deals throughout the week.
Les Harker, Operator of The Saltersgill, said:
“It’s been amazing watching the refurbishment come to life at The Saltersgill. The pub looks terrific, and it was a joy to reopen and show off its brand-new look to the community. We’ve already had great feedback from customers so overall I’d say the reopening was a huge success and I can’t wait for what the future holds.
Once again, I’d like to thank the Proper Pubs team for all their support throughout this journey, and I look forward to making the community proud!”
On top of the fantastic drinks selection, the operators will host a busy schedule of entertainment for customers to enjoy including weekly music on Friday, Saturdays and Sunday taking place from 8pm. Bingo will take place from 12-3pm on a weekly basis along with the pool league team meeting on Mondays from 8pm and the darts league meeting on Thursdays from 8pm. Les is also hoping to support all aspects of community life by collecting food to donate to the local foodbank as well as raising money to have a lifesaving defibrillator installed. Going forward, he also hopes to support Claire House with organising charity events.
Nikki Greenhalgh, Operations Director for Proper Pubs, said: “It’s been a pleasure to have Les at the helm of The Saltersgill for the past 20 years and we are delighted that the opening night was a great success! On behalf of myself and the Proper Pubs team, we’d like to thank Les for all his hard work and we wish him the very best for the future!”
Bringing people together in local areas and creating vibrant social hubs which support their communities is very important to us so we are glad that we were able to make this happen.”
Proper Pubs is always looking for ways to support its communities through an annual schedule of events and fundraising initiatives. This year over Easter it collected 21,619 easter eggs to donate to local charities and in 2025 operators collected 20,500 selection boxes to donate to local charities and communities in need for Christmas, as well as raising £80,255 for Admiral Taverns’ charity partner, Claire House Hospice.
Furthermore, last year, Proper Pubs also successfully donated enough food to local foodbanks across the UK to feed 1,300 people for a week and has also been recognised in the UK-wide defibrillator installation campaign which has already saved 11 lives.
In 2026, Proper Pubs was listed as a finalist in the Best Community Pub category at the Great British Publican Awards, and was previously crowned Community Pub Operator at the Publican Awards in 2024.
The Saltersgill, Middlesbrough, AVE TS4 3LD
Notes to Editors
Admiral Taverns (“Admiral”) is the UK’s number one community pub group. Headquartered in Chester; the Group operates a national estate of c.1,365 predominantly wet-led community pubs. Admiral’s unique operational approach has earnt industry recognition with the Group winning Best Community Pub Operator at the 2024 Publican Awards, whilst also being shortlisted for Best Partnership Pub Company (501+ Sites). In 2019, 2016 and 2013, Admiral Taverns won Best Leased and Tenanted Pub Company at the Publican Awards and ranked highly commended as Best Community Pub Operator in 2017. The Group has also been consistently highly rated by licensees in the industry’s independent annual Tenant Track survey, exceeding the scores of all its national peers.
For more information:
Sarah Patton, Account Executive, Brand Potential
+44 (0)7917 991555